Tire-armor.



A. G. THOMSON.

TIRE ARMOR.

APPLIOATION FILED APR. 1, 1909.

Pateilted Mar. 29, 1910.

INVENTOR ARTHUR GALE THOMSON HIE ATTORHEY.

an'rnun GALE 'rrrouson,

'IIO ALBERT SUTTON, OF SAN OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-HALF FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

TIRE-ARMOR.

Specification of Letters Patent. Application filed April 1, 1909. Serial No. 487,156.

Patented Mar. 2a, 1910.

To all whom it may concern: I Be it known that I, ARTHUR GALE THOM- son citizen of the United States, residing in the city and county of San Francisco an State of California, have invented new and useful Im rovements in Tire-Armor, of which the ollowin is a specification.

My invention re ates to a metallic armor for automobile and like pneumatic tires.

Various eiforts have been made to produce a satisfactory armor for tires which will protect them against puncture, and which will possess the necessary re uisites of flex1- bility, noiselessness, durabi lty and lightness. As a result of a long series of experiments and practice alon these lines I have devised a tire armor w ich possesses these desired requisites, and of wh ch the followlug: is a description:

he invention consists of the parts, and

' the construction and combination of parts,

- as hereinafter more fully described and claimed, having reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a side elevation of a portion of a wheel, illustrating the invention. Fig. 2 is a cross section thereof. Fig. 3 is .a perspective of one of the armor sections. Fig. 4 is a section .on line .ww of Fig. 2.

A represents an ordinary pneumatic tire of an automobile, or other wheel; and 2 the rim to which the tire is secured in any suitable fashion.

3 represents the armor sections, each consisting of a rigid metal plate, of which sections there are a sufficient number to reach around the tire, with the'sections abutting snugly against each other close to the tread, and entirely inclosing armor is assembled for use. The peculiar construction and mode of operation of these sections, with respect to one another, constitutes the essence of the present invention. As shown in Fig. 3, these sections are substantially U-shaped, in cross section and wider than the inflated tire when the latter is not resting on the ground so as to leave suflicient room on each side of the tire for the latter to expand under the load. The sections are wider at the bottom than at the top, and the upper and narrower ends form voutwardly curved hooks 4 which clasp the rings 5 on each side of the tire, and hold the armor circumferentially on the wheel. These sections are preferably drop-forged,

the tire when the and are provided with the inside lateral flanges 6 along one ed e, and a projecting tongue 7 centrally of t e tread portion on the opposite edge, so that the tongue portion 7 of one section will seat in the adjacent re cess 8 of another section, and between a corresponding pair of the lateral projecting flanges 6; correspondingly a pair of flanges (3 on one section will seat in respective lateral recesses 9 of another section, and which recesses 9 flank an intermediate tongue 7. It will thus be seen that these various tongues, flanges and recesses provide an interlocking means for each section along the tread portion thereof, which is very important in an armor of this character. The sections also have convex edges forming a roll- 1 a ing bearing, one against the! other, at their edges, at a point very close to the tread and near to the ground, and which point is represented approximately at 10, in Figs. 1

and 4.

The side edges 11 adjacent sections are lel, but s1" ghtly out .of contact when the sections are not directly on the ground, conserpliently the points of pivotal contact 10 .of t e two sections may be said to be between the top and bottom of the sections, but very close to the bottom. These points 10 of ,con-

tact between the opposed vertical convexed because f it is too high the sections rock on one another in such a we. as to break the rings 5, while if the pivo points of contact 10 are too low, the armor will destroy the resiliency of the tire and not permit the armor to bend inwardly or reentrantly, as for exam la in striking a rock, as indicated in dotte lines in Fig. 1. In other words, the requisites of a successful tire armor of this section demand a flexibility of the tire armor not only from an ordinarily curved position to a flattened osition, when running on the ground, but a so to a reentrant position, so that the tire may be pushed in more or less at any one point, where a particular obstruction is encountered.

Experience has shown that if the point 10 is too high even heavy steel rings at 5 will be broken, but the present construction, here shown and above described, allows much lighter rings to be used with perfect safety,

edges of the sections must be near the Maggi and in fact it is not necessary that those of the tread portion of all substantially paralrings should be absolutely tight. This is of great importance as shown in practice.

The side tongues 6 are carried u the sides of the sections and overlap into t e recesses 9 of the succeeding sections, and both sides of the tongues 6 are rounded so as to prevent the cuttin of the rubber tire. It also is to be noted t at the central tongues 7 are curved and tapered on their under side so 'that they will have arolling motion rather than a noisy, sliding one on the floors of the recesses 8. By this construction of interlocking tongues and coves of the sections, the periphery of th armor is practically continuous and smooth. By rounding the various oints of contact, the sections all have a ro ling, pivotal action one on the other. There is no slipping or sliding, consequently there is no noise or click, and this is quite important. Each sectionstays where it is placed because the loose rings 5 travel; the sections tilting on their pivots 10, near the tread, clutching the ring and pulling it around while the sections stay still. The inside of the hooks 4 are convexed so as to permit of this rolling motion of the sections. Furthermore, the interlocking tongues and recesses prevent any side slip of the sections, one on the other.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Pat- But is 1. A tire armor comprising a circumferential series of substantlally U-shaped metal plates, said plates in rocking contact at their edges adjacent to the tread, each ofsaid plates havin centrally of the tread portion a tongue and a groove, with the tongue of one plate adapted to interlock with the groove of the adjacent plate, the upper ends of said plates being curved to provide hooks, and rings engaged by said hooks to hold the armor circumferentially of the tire.

2. A tire armor com rising a circumferential series of substantlally UrShflPGd metal plates, said plates in rocking contact at their edges adjacent to the tread, and each of said plates having centrally of the tread portion ential series of substantially U-shaped metal plates, each of said plates having a substantially fiat tread portion with the edges of said tread portion substantially parallel and the sides of a plate curving outwardly slightly from saidtread portion so that the greatest width of a plate is at the curves on the sides of the section adjacent said tread but slightly above the latter, each of said plates having centrally of its tread portion a tongue and a groove adapted to interlock with corresponding parts of an adjacent ate. p 4:. A tire armor section consisting of a substantially U-shaped metal plate having its upper reduced ends curved to form hooks, and the inside of the plate provided with a central ton ue projecting over one edge of the tread o? the plate, and the other edge of the tread of the plate having a correspond ing central recess flanked by upwardlyextending projecting curved flanges, and said said tongue plate having recesses flanking adapted to receive corresponding flanges on another plate, said recesses being of substantial length inthe direction of the length of the section and of less dimension in the direction of the projection of the tongue. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

ARTHUR GALE THOMSON.

Witnesses:

CHAnLEs A. PENFIELD, CHARLES EDELMAN. 

